Dracula Untold Blu-ray ReviewMar 03 2015 01:15 AMDracula Untold games its thrones on Blu-ray with an edition that presents this leaden reboot of the Dracula franchise in solid high definition, with an army... Read More

They are all nearly the same price so it comes down to the quality of the set. The Aquos and the Toshiba are 1080p LCD sets while the Samsung is a 720p Plasma set. My viewing distance is about 8 to 9 feet away so based on that 720p would suffice but which one would you prefer and why? The only brand I've had experience with has been Toshiba and one thing I love about their sets is the way they deal with SD sources (one of the video modes only stretches the right and left side of the picture so it doesn't look distorted). I don't know if the others offer such a thing. Any help would be appreciated, thanks

If you are worried about SD material, you will want to get a demo of what SD looks like on the LCD sets. Plasma is a little more forgiving of SD material (I'm generalizing, as YMMV). I can't imagine a 42" 720p plasma is as expensive as the 42" 1080p LCDs, the plasma should be less (in the $1000-$1300 range).

Where I live (Canada), the plasma is about $1700 while the other two are $1800 so it is a bit cheaper but I'd spend the $100 more if one of the other sets were better. To give you an idea of my situation, I'd love a set that plays SD material very well and also HD material well once I get around to getting a Blu-Ray player down the road.

Hi Chris--
I've been looking into getting a new HDTV myself and am planning to purchase Toshiba's 47HL167 for our family room. We have a 26" Regza LCD in our bedroom with DirecTV and the picture quality with standard images is actually quite good. We watch from about the same distance as you're dealing with, so I think you'd be happy with the Toshiba.
I went this route for a 1080p set because I wish to pick a hi-def DVD format at some point, and, to my eye, the LCD image when calibrated looks just as good if not better than a plasma image. I'm sure there are folks out there who would shoot me for saying that, but everyone's eyes are different. Since the technology gap appears to be narrowing among all the different display types on the market, your chances of getting a top-notch image are pretty high with any set you pick.
Going and seeing it on display can be helpful, but a lot of the TVs at the local stores are not calibrated properly, so it's better to test it in your own home if you can and calibrate it for your room. I would also suggest using a good quality HDMI cable with your cable/DSS box.
Cheers,
-Tom